If you build them with the right end lash & clearances in the box and the shifter you should be fine. Loose shifter will cause you to catch reverse when you power shift between 1st & 2nd. Lincoln gear sets have a higher tooth count resulting then having smaller teeth and more prone to breaking. In 33 years of running them I've yet to break one.
I built mine to drive as hard as I can at the nostalgia drag races . as things break or ware out going down the track I up grade to the next best thing . but here`s a picture from 1982 for ya
And if you read one of hagens other posts today about swap meet scores you'll see he does the hard work. I can think of a couple of points that need remembering. When guys were putting in 39 trans's in the early 50's they were under 15 years old. Now they are nearly 70 years old and need a little respect. Remember they don't shift so quick and pause a little on the way through the change learn how to double clutch on the down shifts and most important feel it through don't just change. Driving a traditional car means learning differant driving skills and mastering them is part of the satisfaction of having a period car. Secondly the guys who are having repeated failures.......are you going through and rebuilding before you install or are you just putting in what you've scored and hoping its OK. Using genuine period parts means going through and checking everything and replacing anything that is the slightest bit doubtfull. A lot of work but worth it. If the above sounds a little like restoring that is because building a truely traditional rod and restoring are probably far closer than either side really want to admit. As to the h***les of using and having old gearboxes, brakes, bias ply tyres etc back in the day girls drove the cars fine so are those who say I built it as a driver so needed to upgrade saying their driving skills are lower than our mothers and grandmothers. No particular style is the only right one but if you want to be able to call it traditional/period correct it must be built with what was available back then otherwise it starts becoming a street rod. Build it right and drive it right and you'll have a blast.
Find one of these if your truly traditoinal............I scored one yesterday. And YES, no one will see it when its on the car, but I will KNOW that it is there....... Check out this link: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240171
Thanks, Stude, for reminding me of something I forgot til just now. I had a great old truck awhile back that was mostly stock, drafty, drum brakes, crunch box, etc. That thing was amazing for what it was. I loved driving it - like it was old. It was calming. Then I blew it apart - big motor, C6, disk brakes, a/c etc. But I sold it just few months after I finished it cause it just lost it's soul. And it was only fair at what it had become - a daily driver.
I always wanted A roadster made with early (Ford) parts. It took me seven years to get everthing I need and make it right. Last summer I finally got it on the road and I drove the piss out of it! The car is very reliable, lots of fun and very dirffent from my daily driver. I did trash A synchro in E.Hartford Conn playing around. I took the top off the trans push it in to 3rd gear and drove it about 160 mile home.
Al, you should give me a call if you need a hand with it. im free every afternoon if you need a hand putting the body on!!!!!!!!!call me, im bored man
As I commented earlier you really do live what you preach and you really have my respect. It takes real dedication to build a traditional car. Their is a big differance between a traditional hot rod and a car built in a traditional style. One of my hates is seeing a car advertised as a traditional 32 Ford for example only to find it has a repop ch***is, French flathead, T5 box or a auto and a Brookville body. Damn its not a 32 but in reality a 2008 lookalike.
HA HA thats where i trashed my first one in my RPU a couple years ago at the RUMBLE! must be sumthin about that place. drove home with only 2nd and 3rd after fishin out the chunks
Well, after spending the day with Zach Suhr yesterday, I'm planning on putting the '39 box back into the roadster. Maybe a T-5 for a future build, but not this one. Boy, I needed to this weekend to get my priorities in order. Punchin out, Banjo!
Fortunately, I can go 90+ down the highway with my otherwise stock car, and order you a beer, which will be waiting for you, for when you finally catch me. And you would never know I have disc brakes, if I didn't tell.
glad i could sway you in the "right" direction too bad some of the other parts didnt make it home in 1 piece
i gotta believe henry ford would have used silicone sealer if it had been avail. i think like hot rod 40 its about the at***ude not the parts.
i think we are talking hot rods here not 1953 chevrolets. thats cool if you can do 90+ but its still a vehicle that has nothing to do with being traditional.. pretty much boring if you ask me. just my opinion.. oh yea. i will take a moosehead.. haha
i wanted an old hotrod that had the feel of being built in the late 40's , early 50's so i picked 1949 as the cut off date for parts that i would use in my old roadster truck. 39 ******, 49 flathead, 42 banjo rear. i know that it won't be like a new v/8 automatic as far as reliability and comfort but it sure does give me the feel that i'm looking for . it's a small price to pay to have to fix what breaks sometimes but aint that what hotrodders have always done ?
I get torn between the traditional thing and my love for beating on my equipment like there's no tomorrow... oh, and driving a hot rod I can thrash-on! Hahahaha!! Seriously though... It is a dilemma for me. On one hand I want to "feel" what our forefathers felt when they drove the old hot rods... the oil, gasoline... fear. And on the other hand I want to get ****ed back in the seat, get sideways and HAUL ***!! So yea, a car for each occ***ion is the answer. Okay,,, more on that. I have a few occasions I can think of. I got the '55 to haul ***. I'm doing a '29 Phaeton so I can drive long distances, haul the family around town, and not have to work on it. I'd call this one a traditionally styled hot rod... not a nut and bolt car. And then the "Rafter Project" is my traditional hot rod that I am going to do when I get the patience and the parts collected. A '23 T, banger motor, columbia 2 speed rear, Kelseys... and none of those faux-traditional parts like new bomber seats, guages, etc... But like most who have been there know... it takes years to collect all the parts for a car like that... because traditional hot rods are like RESTORAITIONS when done right... the last bastage when done right, to those who know. So is it RAT ROD, Traditionally Styled Hot Rod, and Traditional Hot Rod and lastly BARN FIND/Caretaker Rods??? Sam.
This is a really neat thread. Why does traditional have to mean old? (just for discussion) I'm not sold on the whole "do it because it's harder" mentality. I subscribe to the "do it because it's neater/cooler" philosophy, and sometimes that encomp***es a job being a bit harder, but I don't seek out ways to make a build more difficult. That doesn't sound like fun to me, and I have a hard time believing that early hot rods were built with that in mind. That being said, I'd still park beside you.
look it up in the dictionary, 2. a set of cultural customs and usages. if they didn't have it than they couldn't use it and thats why this stuff is old. you are right about keepping it smiple, Thats why hot rodding in the 40's got so big.
and how!!! i used to mess with the flatheads man i miss the accessability... now i have a poly 318 push ****on t700 try finding parts for that!!! a pontiac 389 with a slim jim trans (rotohydramatic) the cars are a 61 fury voted ugliest car ever made, and a 63 catalina wagon i hav never seen another of either and thats the way i like it. Who cares that i am riding a bicycle to work now because of lack of money and part availability when those cars roll man alive do they roll!!
This is why i love the traditional way... old parts SMELL better then the new ones... put your nose in an old -39 box...ahhh... or the carbon smell from an old engine...mmmm.. Open a car door on an barnfind and that first inhalation...Yeah..i'm odd... or?
Parts are actually pretty commonly available for that 318 Poly - mostly at NAPA. Check out our business directory at The Polyspherical Engine ***ociation http://www.geocities.com/polyman64 - also, see the links to the Poly forum and Yahoo Group if you ever need any help. ~Jason
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